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The Cardinals trailed Great Falls by only three Saturday afternoon with lass than two minutes to go after holding a brief 25-24 lead just after the intermission.

“When we went up by one, I thought it was ours,” Landrum junior DeShaun Hall said. “We felt like we could win the game at that time.”

And why not, since Landrum had only lost once this season. But while the big stage of the 1A upper state championship at the Bi-Lo Center didn’t faze the Cardinals, the favored Red Devils were too much to handle in taking a 56-41 victory.

“Our guys came out ready to play and didn’t fear nobody,” coach Lyn Smith said. “They played their hearts out, but it just wasn’t our night. We were hoping we could keep it close and hang in there and pull it out at the end.

“For the kids to make it to the final four and see both sides packed with Landrum people, it’s unbelievable. I’m real proud.”

Landrum required all the heartfelt play it could muster against an extremely big and athletic opponent that has long ruled 1A basketball under the rein of coach John Smith. The win marked Smith’s 16th upper state championship victory in his 20 appearance.

But it wasn’t easy.

A put-back by Landrum’s Alex Wilson gave his team a 25-24 advantage with six minutes left in the third, but Great Falls scored the quarter’s final six points and the first five of the fourth to open up a 41-27 lead.

“That’s where we took control,” John Smith said. “That turned the tide in our favor and deflated them a little bit because they knew they had to come out and guard us man to man.”

Once Landrum was made to switch into comeback mode and forced to abandon its zone defense, that’s when the Red Devils’ size advantage became clearly evident in slowly pulling away.

“Their big bodies kind of got us tired,” Hall said.

Usually the benefactor at crunch time, Landrum couldn’t scrap its way back into contention. “The fourth quarter seems to always be our time to really shine, but it just didn’t happen today,” Wilson said.

“I’m proud of the effort we gave, that’s something we’ve done all year. We are going to play hard regardless of who we’re playing. We played pretty good defense, but offensively couldn’t get anything going and it’s just like that sometimes.”

Great Falls’ Torrey Craig scored 21 of his game-high 26 points in the second half, including 17 in the fourth quarter. Hall was the lone other player in double-figures with 10 while Landrum’s Dustin Morris had nine and Wilson eight.

Part of Landrum’s problem was an inability to establish standout post man Wilson down low, something Great Falls based their defense around. Wilson entered the game averaging 21.2 points, but was held to less than half that total.

“We didn’t want him to catch it,” John Smith said. “He’s a terrific low post player and a good free-throw shooter, and we wanted to keep it out of his hands.”

Landrum wasn’t about to accept the concept of a moral victory against a foe that is a state finals regular, but even a smidgen of immediate reflection quickly brought a season of great achievement to the forefront.

“We set goals before we played our first game this year to go to the upper state and state championships,” Hall said. “We got this far and that’s good enough. We played hard all season and completed a lot of goals. We just couldn’t get it done today.”

<p>Landrum’s dream remained alive and well in the late stages of the third quarter.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>The Cardinals trailed Great Falls by only three Saturday afternoon with lass than two minutes to go after holding a brief 25-24 lead just after the intermission.</p><p>When we went up by one, I thought it was ours, Landrum junior DeShaun Hall said. We felt like we could win the game at that time.</p><p>And why not, since Landrum had only lost once this season. But while the big stage of the 1A upper state championship at the Bi-Lo Center didn’t faze the Cardinals, the favored Red Devils were too much to handle in taking a 56-41 victory.</p><p>Our guys came out ready to play and didn’t fear nobody, coach Lyn Smith said. They played their hearts out, but it just wasn’t our night. We were hoping we could keep it close and hang in there and pull it out at the end.</p><p>For the kids to make it to the final four and see both sides packed with Landrum people, it’s unbelievable. I’m real proud.</p><p>Landrum required all the heartfelt play it could muster against an extremely big and athletic opponent that has long ruled 1A basketball under the rein of coach John Smith. The win marked Smith’s 16th upper state championship victory in his 20 appearance.</p><p>But it wasn’t easy.</p><p>A put-back by Landrum’s Alex Wilson gave his team a 25-24 advantage with six minutes left in the third, but Great Falls scored the quarter’s final six points and the first five of the fourth to open up a 41-27 lead.</p><p>That’s where we took control, John Smith said. That turned the tide in our favor and deflated them a little bit because they knew they had to come out and guard us man to man.</p><p>Once Landrum was made to switch into comeback mode and forced to abandon its zone defense, that’s when the Red Devils’ size advantage became clearly evident in slowly pulling away.</p><p>Their big bodies kind of got us tired, Hall said.</p><p>Usually the benefactor at crunch time, Landrum couldn’t scrap its way back into contention. The fourth quarter seems to always be our time to really shine, but it just didn’t happen today, Wilson said. </p><p>I’m proud of the effort we gave, that’s something we’ve done all year. We are going to play hard regardless of who we’re playing. We played pretty good defense, but offensively couldn’t get anything going and it’s just like that sometimes.</p><p>Great Falls’ Torrey Craig scored 21 of his game-high 26 points in the second half, including 17 in the fourth quarter. Hall was the lone other player in double-figures with 10 while Landrum’s Dustin Morris had nine and Wilson eight.</p><p>Part of Landrum’s problem was an inability to establish standout post man Wilson down low, something Great Falls based their defense around. Wilson entered the game averaging 21.2 points, but was held to less than half that total.</p><p>We didn’t want him to catch it, John Smith said. He’s a terrific low post player and a good free-throw shooter, and we wanted to keep it out of his hands.</p><p>Landrum wasn’t about to accept the concept of a moral victory against a foe that is a state finals regular, but even a smidgen of immediate reflection quickly brought a season of great achievement to the forefront.</p><p>We set goals before we played our first game this year to go to the upper state and state championships, Hall said. We got this far and that’s good enough. We played hard all season and completed a lot of goals. We just couldn’t get it done today.</p>